Pathan and his relatives stood in queue for five consecutive days to exchange Rs 4,000. Now, the recent decision of allowing Rs 2.5 lakhs for wedding has come as respite for Pathan.

Pathan and his relatives stood in queue for five consecutive days to exchange Rs 4,000. Now, the recent decision of allowing Rs 2.5 lakhs for wedding has come as respite for Pathan. (Express Photo)

Despite Government’s notification allowing Rs 2.5 akhs withdrawal for wedding purposes, there’s little respite for those who actually have scheduled marriages of their wards. Mohammad Pathan, an auto-rickshaw driver and resident of Delhi’ Yakutpura area, had managed a sum of Rs 3 Lakhs for her daughter’s wedding scheduled for November 26. Now, with less than four days to go for wedding, the Pathan is anxious about the payments he has to make for the function. As per a report in The Indian Express, Pathan and his relatives stood in queue for five consecutive days to exchange Rs 4,000. Now, the recent decision of allowing Rs 2.5 lakhs for wedding has come as respite for Pathan.

For five consecutive days, Pathan (49) said, he and his relatives stood outside a nationalised bank to exchange Rs 4,000 per day, in accordance with the government’s initial cap. The recent decision to allow Rs 2.5 lakh withdrawal for wedding came as a respite for Pathan, but little has changed so far. Pathan, with a wedding invitation card in hand, reached the bank on Monday to deposit Rs 2.5 lakh and withdraw the sum later. However, he has not been given any assurance by the bank.

“The bank manager asked me to come back tomorrow. This delay is making me more anxious… The wedding celebrations will begin in two days,” Pathan was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. When informed about Pathan’s woes, a bank official said: “This is a case where the gentleman has no money in the account yet. He will first have to deposit the sum in his account and then we can look at his withdrawal options. There are so many people who are approaching us for emergency situations,” said the bank official. Reserve Bank of India, on centre’s instructions, notified banks to allow withdrawal of Rs 2.5 wedding purposes. However, the notification came with a number of stiff conditions. As per the latest conditions, a person can draw an amount only if his credit balance before November 8th.